The new year has been a new start for the Hayden and Seaman boys basketball teams.

A combined 0-8 at the Christmas break, the Wildcats and Vikings have combined for five straight victories heading into Friday night's 8 p.m. Centennial League battle at Hayden's Bueltel Activity Complex.

Hayden, 2-4 overall and 2-2 in the league, beat Manhattan 54-46 on Tuesday night for its second straight win, while Seaman (3-4, 3-1) beat Washburn Rural 59-50 to run its winning streak to three games.

Both Hayden coach Ted Schuler and Seaman coach Craig Cox said the holiday break was productive for their teams.

“The guys worked hard, and we had a lot of practices the way the Christmas break worked out,” Cox said. “We had nine practices, and we did a lot of work, and it was good that that's been rewarded, coming out and being able to win.

“Now you have a feeling that their confidence is really growing.”

Schuler agreed that having extra practice time was a benefit.

“To have a full two weeks of practice, and be able to change what we needed to change, and adjust what we needed to adjust, and give the kids the time to do it every day in practice has helped,” Schuler said.

Both teams are very young — Seaman has two seniors and Hayden one — and the coaches agreed that the season so far has been a growing process.

“You can see those steps and that progress that's being made just almost on a daily basis,” Cox said. “Then with each game, and the guys getting more experience, you can see them getting more comfortable.”

“Now we're starting to figure out how important every possession is and how hard you have to play on every possession,” Schuler said. “We've done that the last two games, and we've had success doing it. Our defense is a lot better. We've dropped 20 points a game off of what we gave up in December, so that's huge. That's a big difference.”

Hayden junior Jacob Head leads the city in scoring with a 22.8 scoring average, while junior Marcus Meier averages 17.5 points. Both Head and Meier scored 16 points against Manhattan.

The Hayden-Seaman boys game will follow a 6:15 girls game between the Wildcats (5-1, 3-1) and Vikings (8-0, 4-0).

Seaman, ranked fifth in Class 5A and ninth in The Capital-Journal's Super 10, pulled out a 43-41 win at Washburn Rural on Tuesday night, while Hayden suffered its first loss of the season, 51-49 to Manhattan.

Highland Park is coming off a 41-30 loss to Shawnee Heights on Tuesday night, while Topeka West dropped a 44-25 decision at Emporia. Senior Sha'Von Ray scored nine points for Highland Park against Shawnee Heights, while junior Alex Tyson had 11 points and 10 rebounds for Topeka West against Emporia. Game time: 6:15 p.m.